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Embarrassing Facebook messages that you wish you had never sent could soon be a thing of the past.

The company is set to release a new feature that allows users to delete messages up to 10 minutes after they were sent.

Facebook revealed the feature in the release notes for the latest version of its iPhone app. "Coming soon: Remove a message from a chat thread after it's been sent," it wrote.

"If you accidentally send the wrong photo, incorrect information or message the wrong thread, you can easily correct it by removing the message within ten minutes of sending it"

It is not yet known if the update will also be rolled out on Android.

The update comes after news in April that Facebook had been “quietly deleting messages” that were sent by the company’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. After the revelations caused controversy, the Silicon Valley giant said it would launch the feature for all users.

TechCrunch reported earlier this year that Facebook was deleting messages Mr Zuckerberg and other executives had sent to other users.

Messages users had received from Mr Zuckerberg had disappeared from their Messenger threads, while their replies to him remained. TechCrunch found that email receipts of Facebook messages, from as early as 2010, proved the Facebook founder sent people messages that were no longer visible.

Facebook claimed this was due to changes in its corporate security measures, after Sony Pictures had its email system hacked in 2014.

At the time Facebook never publicly disclosed the action, nor informed the recipients. Mr Zuckerberg declined to provide a statement on the matter at the time.

The US tech giant did however announce shortly after it would soon be launching the "unsend feature", details of which have emerged in the latest version of the iOS app.